In an epic shame attempt to get the head of Public Works Sean DF McGhee to finally start doing his job, North Huron council unanimously voted to make it law that every property owner must complain to Town Hall to ensure that municipally owned property is maintained by town staff.
To make sure their new law is iron-clad they spent more of our tax money on legal fees to make sure the Public Works department will finally start to be held to account by the Public. Their previous attempt to force members of the Public to maintain municipal property was riddled with liability issues. For example what happens if you are forced to maintain municipal property and are injured in the process, or a third party is injured? Remember: After amalgamation NH fired all volunteers and replaced them with paid town staff, their excuse was insurance wouldnt cover the volunteers at the time.
To be clear, if you dont complain about blocked sidewalks, weeds in the streets, potholes debris, roadkill, etc. on municipal property adjacent to yours, you could face a fine by North Huron. This is clearly due to the Public Works failing to do inspection rounds in the last decade or two and a desperate council attempting to uphold section 224 of the Municipal Act.
From the agenda package:
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The Clean Yards Bylaw was originally passed on June 17, 2019. The bylaw deals with a variety of issues and it has been brought to staffs attention that one sentence could be interpreted different than intended.
Section 3.55 of the Clean Yards By-law deals with boulevards. As written, the wording is open to interpretation. For clarification and as supported by the Townships solicitor, it is suggested
Section 3.55 revised to read as follows: Every owner of a property shall ensure that the boulevards adjacent to their property are kept free from:
a) long grass and weeds,
b) hazardous objects or materials,
c) domestic animal excrement,
d) rubbish or other debris.
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North Huron council contact info:
Reeve Bernie Bailey:
82 Victoria Street East